Medical marijuana expo shows Missouri ready to meet demand

ST. LOUIS -- At first glance, the trade show at Union Station in St. Louis last week looked like any other home-and-garden show or perhaps a farm-equipment expo with vendors lining the exhibit hall with displays of irrigation equipment, greenhouse supplies and fertilizer products.

But it wouldn't have taken a visitor long to realize this was no ordinary trade show. Interspersed among the agriculture and gardening displays were video system and laboratory equipment vendors, armed security companies and makers of all things related to the growing, manufacturing, testing, transporting and selling of medical marijuana.

This was the second annual MoCann Bizcon & Expo, an opportunity for those involved in Missouri's new medical marijuana industry to network, learn about the latest cannabis products and prepare for the opening of the state's first medical marijuana facilities later this year.

"This will be a monumental year in the creation of Missouri's medical marijuana industry," said Jack Cardetti, president of Tightline Public Affairs in Jefferson City, Missouri, as he took a break from the exhibit hall to speak with the Southeast Missourian. Cardetti serves as spokesman for MoCannTrade, the Missouri Medical Cannabis Trade Association.

The trade show and conference -- complete with keynote speakers and breakout educational sessions -- is one example of how the state's medical marijuana industry is preparing to meet public demand for its products.

Scores of vendors filled the exhibit hall at Union Station in St. Louis for the second annual McCann Bizcon & Expo on March 2 and 3, sponsored by the Missouri Cannibis Trade Association.JAY WOLZ

"There's been a lot of work that has gone into preparing the industry for this year," Cardetti said. "Obviously, first and foremost, we believe that Missouri's medical marijuana program will help patients, but there's also an undeniable economic opportunity the state is going to experience."

In terms of direct employment, Cardetti said MoCann believes the medical cannabis industry will create 5,000 jobs for people working for state-licensed medical marijuana businesses.

"There are 348 license holders that will be directly employing Missourians," Cardetti said. "But there will also be a ton of ancillary businesses that come from this." Those ancillary businesses include everything from greenhouse contractors and product packaging firms to product tracking software designers and dispensary architects.

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services has awarded licenses for cultivation, manufacturing and production facilities, as well as product transportation providers and dispensaries. Among the 192 dispensaries that have been licensed in the state, four have been approved in Cape Girardeau as well as one in Jackson.

Last week's conference and trade show featured about 130 exhibitors and more than 1,300 attendees from all parts of the state, most of whom were connected to the medical marijuana industry in one way or another such as license holders, suppliers or customers. "Conferences like this one help provide education, and there's a lot of good networking happening," Cardetti observed. "Let's say you have a dispensary in Cape Girardeau. You have to get your product from one of the other license holders. You also need to have a business relationship with a cultivator and a manufacturer. These are the types of opportunities conferences like this bring together."

The MoCann Bizcon & Expo at St. Louis's Union Station on March 2 and 3 looked like any other trade show, but this one focused on Missouri's new medical marijuana industry.JAY WOLZ

Some of the educational breakout sessions at the MoCann conference offered information on product packaging compliance, financial considerations, cybersecurity, HIPAA compliance, enhancing the customer experience and marketing cannabis products to women (featuring a panelist who wrote a book titled "Breaking the Grass Ceiling").

In addition to providing networking and educational opportunities for its members, MoCannTrade is also involved in legislative advocacy. Cardetti said he believes there will be a gradual rewriting of laws on the federal level to decriminalize the use of recreational and medical-grade marijuana.

One piece of legislation Cardetti says has a good chance of passage in the foreseeable future is the Safe Banking Act, which would open traditional banking channels to those involved in the medical marijuana industry. The legislation, he said, has been approved by the U.S. House of Representatives and has gone to the Senate where it reportedly has bipartisan support, including that of Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt.

"A big problem we have in the marijuana industry is that you cannot go through typical banking procedures," Cardetti said, and explained because of federal laws prohibiting marijuana's use, banks and other financial institutions must steer clear of the business.

"You can't go down and open a checking account or get a business loan (for a medical marijuana operation). The fact that much of the industry's business has to be done in cash is not safe for anyone. It's not good for patients, it's not good for the industry and it's not good for regulators," he said.

"The Safe Banking Act will help regulate and normalize a lot of business activity, which is critical to our members," he said. "Of all the federal reforms that are likely to happen, I think that will be the first."

Speaking of "being first," Cardetti said it will be interesting to see which licensed cultivation facility will be the first to legally grow product, which production, manufacturing and testing operations will be first to produce and ship medical marijuana and which of the state's 192 dispensaries will be the first to open its doors.

"The licenses have all been awarded, but now the people who got the licenses have to do what they told the state they were going to do and that's to build safe, compliant facilities," Cardetti said. "We think that later this summer, a patient will be able to walk into a licensed Missouri dispensary for the first time, and that's pretty exciting."

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More than 36,000 eligible medical marijuana patients in Mo.

As of last week, physicians in Missouri had certified 36,135 patients as eligible to obtain medical marijuana, as well as 1,017 caregivers (people who have become certified to obtain medical marijuana for qualified patients), according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.

St. Louis and St. Louis County have the largest combined number of certified patients with 5,602, followed by Jackson County (Kansas City) with 3,761.

In Southeast Missouri, DHSS reported the number of number of patients who had been certified as of last week, by county, was as follows:

• Bollinger 61
• Butler 190
• Cape Girardeau 395
• Dunklin 132
• Mississippi 26
• New Madrid 104
• Pemiscot 102
• Perry 163
• Ripley 28
• Scott 154
• Ste. Genevieve 123
• Stoddard 148
• Wayne 81

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